Lace mechanism for flat knitting machines



Aug. 20, 1935. A. GEE 2,011,577

LACE MECHANISM FOR FLAT KNITTING Mommas Filed March 25, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG: 1'. 52 T 325 :75 57 1/ O Ji z'u- II "'1 I i INVENTOR. WITNESSES /7 Me] '21 Gee,

1%, BY @MZZM,

ATTORNEY.

A. GEE

Aug. 20,1935.

FIG- 11 VII/JTNES E IINVENTOR. flzberz'f Gee, M Z z/rfi l ATTORNEY. v

Patented Aug. 20, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Albert Gee, Elkins Park, Pa.

Application March 25,

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to fiat knitting machines; and it has reference more particularly to fiat knitting machines of the cotton type employed in the manufacture of full fashioned stockings.

The main object of my invention is to enable production of open mesh or lace effects of various designs incident to the knitting of stocking blanks on full fashioned knitting machines, more rapidly and economically than possible with the special complicated mechanisms heretofore designed for the purpose.

The foregoing desiderata I attain as hereinafter fully set forth through provision of simple and inexpensive means whereby the picot or ravel stop mechanism, with which modern full fashioned knitting machines are ordinarily equipped, is converted into mechanism suitable to the formation of lace effects of different designs or patterns; and through provisions, likewise simple and inexpensive, in connection with the narrowing heads of the knitting machines, whereby the said heads are actuated to predetermine concurrent shaping or fashioning of the stocking blanks with use of the yarn carriers alone.

Other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will be manifest from the detailed description following in coordination with the attached drawings, wherein Fig. I shows a cross section of a full fashioned knittingmachine con.- veniently embodying my invention.

Fig. II is a fragmentary front elevation of the machine viewed as indicated by the arrows II--II in Fig; I. I

Figs. III and IV are detail views illustrating the action of certain parts provided for modifying the operation of the picot attachment of the machine to determine production of lace effects in accordance with my invention.

Fig. V is a fragmentary diagrammatic view showing one of the narrowing heads of the machine and the special provisions whereby the vfunctioning of the head is governed from the measuring chain.

Fig. VI is a conventional representation of one form of open mesh or lace work which may be economically produced through my invention; and

Fig. VII is a view of a detail of the machine, in plan.

With reference more particularly to Figs. I and II of these illustrations, the narrowing mechanism of the machine is comprehensively designated by the numeral In. As usual, the curved arms I l of this narrowing mechanism reach for- 1931, Serial No. 525,147

wardly from a horizontal rock shaft l2 at the rear of the machine, to which they are secured; and said arms are coupled, by means of vertical links l3, with roller arms [4 which are subject to rotary cams on the cam shaft iii of the ma- 5 chine, one of said cams being indicated at it in Fig. I. Through the medium of the parts just described, dipping and lifting motion is imparted to the narrowing mechanism in in a well known manner when the cam shaft I5 is shifted'endwise 10 to bring the cams l6 into the planes of the rollers on the arms 14. The means for shifting the cam shaft I5 is not illustrated except for the controlling bell crank member l'l shown in Fig. V, which member is actuated by lugs or buttons l8 l5 and .l 9 on the measuring chain 20, also in a manner well understood in the art.

The numeral 2| (Figs. I and II) indicates the usual longitudinally extending rod which is supported from the ends of the curved arms I l and 2G whereto are secured suspension bearing members 22 that afford sliding support to a pair 01' axially aligned rods 23, 24. To these rods 23, 24

\ are respectively attached the picot combs 25 and 26 associated with the two needle sets 21, 28 in 25 each knitting section of the machine. When not in use, the combs are swung upward about the rods 23, 24 so that their points rest against a fiat horizontal bar 29 which overlies therod 2i and which is secured by screws to upward extremi- 30 ties 30 of the bearing members 22. The usual wedge cam'for shifting the rods 23, 24 concurrently in opposite directions against the action of springs 85 (see Fig. VII) is shown at 3| in Figs.

I and II, it being secured to the end of a lever 32 fulcrumed for freerocking movement on the rod 2|. The details of an illustrative form of the spring mounting is shown in Fig. VII, in which springs 85- are shown as tending to bring together collars 86 and 88 carried respectively by 40 rods 2| and 24 at or near the ends thereof.

Ordinarily, incident to the formation of a picot edge or a ravel stop course in the fabric, the wedge cam is moved into action but once to effect shifting of the combs 25, 26 for transfer of fabric loops from alternate needles to adjacent needles of the two groups 21, 28 as required. To determine periodic shifting of the combs and resultant formation of open mesh or lace work as 'the stocking blanks are being knit on the machine, I- make provisions for intermittently actuating the wedge cam as follows: Secured to the horizontal bar 29, 'is -a bracket member 35 having an upwardly curved extremity which affords anchorage for one end of a tension spring 36 whereof the opposite end is attached to the lever 32 carrying the wedge cam 3i. The spring 36 just referred to tends to draw the cam lever 32 into contact with a screw stop 31 adjustable in a horizontal extremity of the bracket member 35. Mounted with capacity for oscillatory movement on the horizontal shaft I2, is a motion translating element 38 whereto is pivotally connected at 39, a curved thrust arm 40 having a notch 4i in its outer end. Adjacent its outer end, the thrust arm 40 rests on a stud 42 projecting laterally from a collar 43 at the lower end of a vertical bolt 45. As shown, this bolt 45 is slidable in a guide 46 secured to a pin 41 that reaches horizontally from the upward extremity 32a of the wedge cam lever 32. The bolt 45 is prevented from turning in the guide 46 through engagement of a lug 48 thereon with a slot 49 in the said guide. At its upper end the bolt 45 has a collar 50 for abutment of a spring 5i which is compressed between the said collar and'the top of the guide. Pivoted at 52 to a bracket arm 53 reaching rearwardly from the horizontal bar 29, is a gravity latch 55 which is adapted to engage a notch 56 in the upward extremity 32a .of the wedge cam lever 32, and which has a pin 51 projecting from one side thereof. oscillatory movement may be induced in the motion translating element 38. by any suitable means; but for convenience, I prefer to utilize-other parts of the picot mechanism, to wit: the usual rotary cam 60 on the cam shaft i5 of the machine, which acts upon a roller 6! on the downward extremity of a spring influenced bell crank lever 62 fulcrumed on a fixed center 63, see Fig. I, the horizontal arm of the said bell crank lever being coupled, by means of an adjustable link rod 66, with the motion translating element 38.

In operation, as each of the buttons or lugs i8 or l9 of the measuring chain 20 actuates the bell crank element l1 (Fig. V), the cam shaft i 5 of the machine is shifted endwise in the known manner so that the cams l6 and 60 thereon are moved into the plane of the rollers respectively on the levers I 4 and 62. The cam i6 is the first to become active and causes dipping of the narrowing mechanism i0 so that the points of the combs 25 and 26 arebrought into engagement with aligned needles of the groups 21, 28 to take the fabric loops from them. Then, as the narrowing mechanism III is lifted, through continued rotation of the cam i6, with the loops on the comb points, the cam 60 becomes active in causing forward movement of the thrust arm 46 through the interposed bell crank lever 62, the link 66, and

the motion translating member 38, with attendant engagement of the notch at the end of said thrust arm with the stud 41 on the wedge cam lever 32. As a consequence, the lever 32 is swung counterclockwise about the rod 2i, and the wedge cam 3i thereby moved downward from the position of Fig. III to spread the rods 23, 24 and the combs supported by .them compressing and storing energy in the springs driving the rods to normal position. The points of the combs are brought into alignment with individual needles of the groups 21, 28 adjacent those needles from which the loops were previously taken. As the lever 32 is swung in the manner just explained, the gravity latch 55 drops into the notch in the lever 32 as in Fig. 1, thereby to lock the same temporarily against movement. This action is followed immediately by asecond dip of the narrowing mechanism i0 under the influence of the cam i6, so that the loops suspended on the points of the bars are placed on the above referred to adjacent needles of the groups.21, 28. Due to interlocking of the notched end of the thrust arm 46 with the stud 41 at the initiation of the forward stroke of the said arm, the spring 5| is compressed through lifting of the arm by the wedge cam lever 32 as theconcerted movement continues, However, upon retirement of the thrust arm 46 from the lever 32 (now locked) and with completion of the current rotation of the cam shaft l5 to lift the narrowing mechanism ill, the spring 61, in relaxing, causes the notched end of the thrust arm to be lifted to the position shown in Fig. IV above the plane now occupied by the pin 41. During the succeeding actuation of the narrowing mechanism I0 brought about by the next in the series of buttons l8, IS on the measuring chain 26, the combs 25, 26 (still spread as in Fig. II) are caused to descend so that their points take the loops from the needles to which the transfer was made during the first described operation. Just as the comb points clear the needles 21, 28, the thrust arm 40 is advanced by the action of the rotary cam 60, and, this time, engages the lug 51 on the latch 55, thereby dislogding the latter from the notch 56 in the lever 32. As a consequence, the lever 32 is swung clockwise by the spring 36 until it engages the stop 31', with attendant withdrawal of the wedge cam 3i from between the contiguous ends of the slide rods 23 which carry the point combs 25, 26. Through the energized springs (not shown) influencing the slide rods 23, 24, the combs 25, 26 are instantly moved toward each other to the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. II. Then, during the succeeding dip of the narrowing mechanism In, the fabric loops suspended from the comb points are transferred to the needles now in line with them. Thus by intermittent actuations'of the narrowing mechanism in the manner explained, as the knitting proceeds, fabric loops are transferred first in one direction, and then in the other between adjacent needles of the groups 21, 28 with resultant formation of lace effects which may obviously be varied by differently spacing the points in the combs. The fabric shown for the purposes of exemplification in Fig. VI, is contingent upon use of a comb point for every fourth needle, with determination of open meshes M in alternation with double wales W of plain fabric loops. Further variations in the design may be had by increasing the spacing of the buttons l8, 19 on the measuring chain so that multiple courses of plain loops intervene open mesh fabric areas along the length of the fabric; or again by manipulation of the parts shown in Figs. Ill and IV as by throwing the pawl 55 out of action-all in a manner which will be readily understood by skilled knitters.

Due to employment of the picot combs 25, 26, it is impracticable to fashion the fabric with the usual narrowing combs 65, 66 which are shown in Fig. II as being shifted to inactive position beyond opposite ends of the needle banks. I therefore accomplish the fashioning of the calf portions of the stockings solely by gradually decreasing the throw of the carriers 61, 68 which carrier stops, and the stops for controlling'the throw of the narrowing comb rods R, B (Fig. II). By reason of the omission just referred to, the pawl H for racking the stop screw 15 for the narrowing comb rods may be manually thrown to inactive position as in Fig. V, while the pawl 10 for racking the screw 14 for the yarn carrier rods may be maintained active. A further departure from usual practice will be noted in that I have provided a magnetic device in the form of a solenoid 16 for controlling the activity of the pawl 10, the said solenoid being in circuit with a suitable source .of electric current (not shown) through conductors 11, 18. The solenoid 16 is controlled, in turn, by a switch I9 secured to the frame of the machine and having its actuating plunger 8| projecting into the path of cam lugs 82 on the buttons I9 of the measuring chain 20. The operating connection between the pawl 10 and the armature 83 of the solenoid 16 may consist of a spring 84; and said armature is normally held retracted by another spring 85 engaged at one end with a fixed anchorage 86 on the pawl yoke 81 of the narrowing head. Normally, when relaxed, the spring ,84 functions as a rigid link to withhold the pawl 10 from the ratchet wheel 12; but when expanded through pull of the armature 83 by the solenoid 16, the spring 84 serves to maintain the pawl I0 yieldingly engaged with the said ratchet wheel. With the described arrangement, it is evident that as each of the buttons I9 on the measuring chain 20 actuates the switch I9, the pawl 10 is moved into action by -the solenoid 16 to rack the ratchet wheel 12 one tooth, the throw of the yarn carrier bars being thereby progressively reduced and the fabric correspondingly narrowed concurrently 'with the formation of lace work as hereinbefore explained. Preferably, I knit a length of plain fabric immediately below the welt of the stocking blank incident to which the initial narrowings may be made in the usual manher with both the screws 14, 15 of the narrowing head operating. Under this condition all that is required is to swing the picot combs 25, 26 up out of the way and to place the pawl H into active position for use of the usual narrowing combs 65, 66.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a full fashioned knitting machine embodying a straight series of needles, narrowing mechanism, a point comb supported by the narrowing mechanism with capacity for endwise shifting to transfer fabric loops between adjacent needles incident to dipping and lifting of the narrowing mechanism, and a cam for so shifting the point comb in, opposition to spring" pressure, the said cam being secured to a rock lever; means for periodically actuating the rock lever to determine the formation of lace work in the fabric produced by the machine, including a spring effective to draw the lever aforesaid against a fixed stop with the cam retracted from the point comb, a latch to lock-the lever against the action of the spring when the lever is swung to active position to effect shifting of the point comb, and a member for alternately swinging the lever and for tripping the latch.

2. In a full fashioned knitting machine embodying a straight series of needles, narrowing mechanism, a point comb supported by the narrowing mechanism with capacity for endwise shifting to transfer fabric loops between adjacent needles incident to dipping and lifting of the narrowing mechanism, and a cam for so shifting the point comb in opposition to spring pressure, the said cam being secured to a rock lever; means for periodically actuating the rock lever to determine the formation of lace work in the fabric produced by the machine, including a. spring effective to draw the lever against a fixed stop with the cam retracted from the point comb, latch means to lock the lever against the action of its spring when swung into active position to effect shifting of the point comb, and a reciprocating thrust arm actuated by a rotary cam'on the cam shaft of the machine to alternately swing the finger as aforesaid and trip the latch.

3. In a full fashioned knitting machine embodyby the machine, including a spring effective to draw a lever against the fixed stop with the cam retracted from the point comb, a latch to lock the lever against the action of its spring when swung into active position to effect shifting of the point comb, and means governed by the measuring chain of the machine to alternately swing the lever as aforesaid and trip the latch;

4. In a full-fashioned knitting machine embodying a straight series of needles, narrowim.

mechanism, a point-comb supported by the nargrowing mechanism with capacity for endwise shifting to transfer fabric loops between adjacent needles incident to dipping and lifting of the narrowing mechanism, and a cam for "so shifting and retaining the point-comb in opposition to spring pressure, said cam being secured to a rock lever; means for actuating the rock lever to make the cam active at alternate intervals between sets of dipping-and-lifting movements of the point-comb to shift the comb and retain it shifted, and means to release the pointcomb in the other intervals between the sets of dipping-and-lifting movements to make the spring pressure effect the transferring movement,

- thereby to determine the formation of lace-work in the fabric produced by the machine.

5. In flat-bed knitting'machinery for the production of fiat, knitted fabrics having laterally displaced loops therein, including a bank of needies for forming and interlocking yarn-loops in the formation of ordinary knitted fabric, a plurality of transfer points, a bar movable axially and carrying the points, means for'eifecting dipping-and-lifting movement of the bar, means for effecting movement of the bar to position the points normally in relation to predetermined needles, and a cam for movement into and out of engagement with the bar, said cam effecting movement of .the bar to position the points against the action of the normal-positioning means, and means for releasing the latching means after the next actuation of the dippingand-lifting means has brought the points into and outof engagement with the needles at which -the latching means has located the points and to which the points immediately previously transferred loops.

6. In flat-bed knitting machinery for the pro duction of flat, knitted fabrics having laterally displaced loops therein, including a bank of needles for forming andinterlocking yam-loops in the formation of ordinary knitted fabric, a plurality of transfer points, a bar movable axially and carrying'thepoints, means for effecting dipping-and-lifting movement of the bar, means for effecting movement of the bar to position the points normally in relation to predetermined needles, and a cam for movement into and out of engagement with the bar, said cam, when moved into engagement with the bar, effecting movement of the bar to position the points against the action of the normal-positioning means; the machinery having means for latching the cam after it has been moved into engagement with the bar to retain the bar in the position to which it has been moved, and means for releasing the latching means after the next actuation of the dipping-and-lifting means has brought the points into and out of engagement with the needles at which the latching means has located-the points and to which the points immediately previously transferred loops.

7. In flat-bed knitting machinery for the production of flat, knitted fabrics having'laterally displaced loops therein, including a bank of needles for forming and interlocking yarn-loops in the formation of ordinary knitted fabric, a pair of bars movable axially, a plurality of transfer ,7

with the bar ends, effecting movement of the bar to position the points against the action of the normal-positioning means; the machinery having means for latching the cam after it has been moved into engagement with the bar ends to retain the bars in the position to which they have been moved, and means for releasing the latching means after the next actuation of the dipping-and-lifting means has brought the points into and out of engagement with the needles at which the latching means has located the points and to which the points immediately previously transferred loops.

. ALBERT GEE. 

